The forgotten sister
by Clayton Overstreet
Summary: Quadropeds are people too


I don't own these characters or profit from them  
The forgotten sister  
By, Clayton Overstreet  
"Washu, I need a favor." Ryoko said. "I need you to help me find some way to get Tenchi."  
Washu grinned and said, "Sure thing Ryoko. If you'll do something for me."  
"I'm not sharing."  
Washu frowned. "Fine, then all you have to do is... call me mom!"   
Ryoko sighed and said, "Fine... MOM!" She didn't even bother hiding the sneer in her voice. "Now will you help me?"  
"Sure thing. Why wouldn't I help my favorite daughter?"   
They both turned to go into the lab. Neither of them saw Ryo-ohki sitting at the foot of the stairs. Neither of them saw the tear roll down her cheek, or saw her turn and hop through the nearest wall.   
  
Tenchi took off his gardening gloves and set down the basket of carrots he was carrying. Wiping the sweat from his brow he turned to go when he heard a tiny snuffling sound in the darkness of the shed. Walking over he saw Ryo-ohki curled up in a dark corner.   
"Hi Ryo-ohki. Are you here for a carrot?" She didn't respond so he reached to the basket. He pulled out a huge carrot and offered it to her. "Here you go." Ryo-ohki looked up at him and then turned away. "Wow, something must be really wrong with you. Maybe I should ask Ryoko." His voice softened slightly as he said the name. "She'll know what to do."  
Ryo-ohki jumped to her feet and hissed at him. Tenchi pulled his hand back in fright. Then he saw the tears welling at the corners of her yellow eyes. He reached out to her again, but she disappeared. "Just like Ryoko." He breathed.   
Suddenly he felt someone press into his back. A pair of breasts rubbed against him. He turned, expecting the usual image of cyan hair. "Ryo-ohki? What are you doing?"  
The humanoid cabbit looked at him and searched his eyes. Tenchi wasn't sure what she was looking for. "Meow?"  
"What is it?"  
Ryo-ohki gently reached over and touched his lip just under his nose. He reached up quickly, but there wasn't even a drop of blood. Ryo-ohki nodded and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. Tenchi didn't even bother backing away as the fur brushed his skin. Again she vanished, and this time she didn't reappear.   
Sasami looked down at Ryo-ohki as the cabbit lay loosely in her lap. Ryo-ohki hadn't responded to any of the petting or even bothered to move since she'd appeared there. Next to them on the couch Mihoshi looked away from the television and said, "What's wrong with her?"   
"I don't know."  
Aeka glanced at them. "Do you mind? I want to see what this MacGuyver person is going to do next."   
"Well she looks depressed." Mihoshi said. "In training at GP I had a course on basic psychology and she does not look good."  
Sasami frowned and hugged Ryo-ohki to her. "Well I can't stand to see her cute face so sad." The cabbit sighed and just hung loosely in her arms.   
Tenchi came in the door just then and smiled. "Oh so there's where Ryo-ohki went to."  
"Tenchi did you yell at her again?" Sasami asked.   
Tenchi shook his head. "No. I don't know what's wrong with her. She was acting really strange in the shed too." He looked around. "Where's Ryoko?"  
"Who cares?" Aeka asked.   
"I was going to ask her what's wrong with Ryo-ohki." He said.   
Ryo-ohki glanced up at him and rolled her eyes. "Meow!" All four of them looked at her blankly.   
Just then Ryoko and Washu came out of the lab. "For the last time Washu I'm not going to brainwash him!"   
"But it would be so easy... oh. Hi Tenchi." Washu grinned.  
Suddenly they were interrupted by a laser blast that hit the wall right between Ryoko and Washu. All eyes looked at the hole and then over at Ryo-ohki, who hissed loudly, jumped out of Sasami's arms, and then ran for the door.   
Ryoko glanced at Washu. "What's her problem?"  
"I don't know." Washu said.   
Tenchi shrugged. "She's been acting really weird... Washu did you just try to talk Ryoko into brainwashing me?"   
Washu looked away and said quickly, "Excuse me but I need to go figure out what's wrong with Ryo-ohki." She turned and ran into the lab. "You guys go find her okay?" The door slammed shut behind her.   
Tenchi glanced at Ryoko. She smirked and said, "I said no."  
Aeka glared at her, but then picked up the remote to turn off the television. "Come on, let's go find that little fur ball."   
  
"Ryo-ohki!" The call echoed off of the surrounding hills. "Ryo-ohki where are you?"  
The cabbit in question was sitting in the top branches of Funaho and decidedly ignoring the cries from below. Suddenly the leaves around her began to glow. Ryo-ohki sighed and closed her eyes.   
"Well what did you expect?" Tsunami's voice came out of the air.   
"Meow." Ryo-ohki snapped.   
"Yes, I know how it is."  
"Meow?"  
"Hey I'm a tree after all. Nobody ever gave any thought to anything else until I bonded with Sasami."  
"Meow!"  
"Well what can you expect from bipeds? Look, why don't you go to Washu. I'm sure she has some translator or something so you can at least get it off your chest."   
"Meow." Ryo-ohki said and hopped to the ground.  
Tsunami giggled and slowly dissipated. "What are aunts for?"  
  
Ryo-ohki arrived at the house with everyone else following her and watching with concern. She looked at them and briefly considered vaporizing every last one, but then sighed and just continued on until she reached the door to Washu's lab. It opened and she went inside.  
"Should we follow her?" Mihoshi asked.  
"Might as well." Ryoko put in and the group moved into the darkness.   
When they arrived inside the lab Washu grinned and said, "It's about time. What took so long?" They looked at her blankly. "Okay. Well Ryo-ohki, why don't you hop up here on the chair?" Ryo-ohki looked at her like she was crazy. Washu sighed and said, "Fine, no tests."  
Ryo-ohki glanced at Ryoko. Ryoko blinked and said, "She wants a translator."   
"Is that all?" Washu pressed a button on her computer and a small silver ball appeared on her desk. "Just talk Ryo-ohki and we'll understand."  
Ryo-ohki hopped onto the desk and looked at them. Sitting on her haunches she cleared her throat and then with grace and dignity said, "Fuck off."   
"What?" Ryoko yelled. Aeka covered Sasami's ears, but the little girl ducked. "That's what you've been wanting t say to us?"  
"Yes." Ryo-ohki meowed. "Just fuck off and leave me the hell alone." She turned and lay down on the desk facing away from them.   
"Ryo-ohki." Sasami said reaching for her, but she stopped and drew her hand back.   
Tenchi stepped forward and asked, "What did we do?"  
Ryo-ohki made a sound that translated as, "Ha."  
Ryoko growled and glared at her. "Fine if you want to act like a spoiled brat go right ahead."  
Ryo-ohki turned and glared at her with a sneer showing off all of her teeth. "I'm the spoiled brat? There's a laugh."   
"What are you talking about?"   
"Oh please. Everybody's favorite thinks I'm the one getting spoiled." She sniffed and turned around fully. "Well little miss perfect, if you're so great why don't you tell everyone what's wrong?"   
"Why don't you tell them?" Tsunami's voice echoed from somewhere.   
"You stay out of this." She snapped. "Until now you were the only one I wasn't mad at."   
Mihoshi blinked. "What did I do?"   
Ryo-ohki sighed and shook her head. "Okay, you didn't do anything, but that's beside the point."   
"Then get to the point." Aeka said. "I for one have better things to do than listen to a little rodent talk all day."  
Ryo-ohki turned on her. "I'm so sure. What are you going to spend your day on? Watching soap opera's and adding pounds to your thighs or hitting on your nephew?"   
Aeka's face turned red. "You disgusting little monster!"   
"Ryo-ohki why are you acting like this?" Sasami said. "Why are you being so mean?"  
"Oh knock it off." Ryo-ohki said to her. "You're over nine hundred years old. Act your age. Besides shouldn't you be cooking or cleaning something?" She glanced at Washu who was bent over a computer screen. "And just what are you doing?"  
"Reading your thoughts. Very interesting." Ryo-ohki flinched and kept quiet. "Oh, you must have learned that work from Ryoko because I certainly didn't program you with it."   
Tenchi held up his hand. "Wait a minute Washu. That isn't right. You can't go looking at Ryo-ohki's thoughts without her permission."  
"Yeah." Sasami put in weakly. She was still staring at Ryo-ohki and fighting back pained tears.   
"Well she's using one of my inventions." Washu said. "Anyway she's just lashing out."  
Ryo-ohki hissed again. "Fat lot you know mom." She looked at all of them. "All I am to any of you is a pet and occasional ride into space. I dare any of you to say otherwise." All of them were quiet. "See?"  
"So what do you want?" Tenchi asked. The lab was quiet for a minute. Nobody said anything for a while. "Ryo-ohki?"  
"I..." She began. "I just want..." She closed her eyes, tears soaking into her fur. Sasami's own tears had vanished as she anxiously waited for the answer. "I want you to treat me like everyone else."  
"You get treated a lot better than I ever did." Ryoko said. "All you do all day is eat carrots and play with Sasami."   
"And all you do all day is gripe about getting Tenchi and cry about what you went through under Kagato." Ryo-ohki yelled. "Well what about me? I was there too! But does anyone try to tell me it's okay? Has anyone tried telling me that all the people I killed, weren't my fault?" She looked at Washu again. "Nobody ever asked me to call them mom." She looked at Tenchi. "You don't even see me as a woman even when I'm in my humanoid body. I kissed you on the cheek and there wasn't the slightest reaction out of you. If Aeka had done it you'd be embarrassed and if it had been Ryoko you would have fainted from blood loss."   
Tenchi blushed and looked down. "I... I don't know what to say except that I'm sorry."  
Ryoko looked down at her and said, "Me too." She smiled and added. "You are my sister after all."  
Mihoshi blinked. "Well don't look at me. I was supposed to arrest you."   
Aeka sneered. "And everyone seems to be glossing over the fact that you kissed Tenchi."   
"Well at least the space brat is a little jealous." She looked at Washu. "And what about you?"  
Washu looked at her, then up at the others. "All of you get out."  
"Washu..." Tenchi began.   
"I said out!" Washu said. They all flinched and quickly moved towards the door. She looked down at Ryo-ohki. "You stay."   
They waited while the others left the room. Ryo-ohki watched Washu carefully with suspicious eyes. "Well?" Washu stared down at her, her mouth bent in a deep frown. "What? What is it? Do I have something in my fur?" Ryo-ohki looked herself over. When she looked up she saw something she'd never thought she'd see.   
Tears streamed down Washu's cheeks and hit the floor. The scientist's bottom lip quivered slightly as she stood watching Ryo-ohki.   
"Mom look... you don't have to cry." Ryo-ohki said quickly beginning to feel uncomfortable. Washu's nose started making huge sniffing noises. "Mom really cut it out." Ryo-ohki felt something in her chest tightening. "Please don't cry!" She jumped onto Washu's chest, using her breasts as leverage and pressed her face into her cheek.  
Washu wrapped her arms around Ryo-ohki tightly and fell to her knees. She felt the cabbit's tears dripping onto her chest and hugged her tighter.  
Ryo-ohki had her face buried against Washu when suddenly the gentle hands that were holding her picked her up to face level. "Meow?" She realized that she must be too far away from the translator.   
"Ryo-ohki," Washu said. "I... I love you. And I'm sorry I treated you as anything but my daughter."   
Ryo-ohki transformed into her smaller, little girl form and hugged herself to Washu tightly. "Meow. Myah meow myah."   
Washu didn't need the translator to understand her. Softly petting her daughter's hair she smiled and said, "You called me mom."   
  
As Washu and Ryo-ohki, still in her little human form, walked out of the lab the others looked up anxiously. They'd all been thinking about what Ryo-ohki had said and none of them had wanted to talk.   
Around Ryo-ohki's neck was the silver translator, on a special necklace. She looked up at them and said, "I'm sorry for what I said in there."  
Aeka frowned. "As you should be."  
"Aeka stop it." Tenchi said quickly. The princess looked at him, but saw his expression and remained quiet. "Ryo-ohki you don't have to apologize. It was our fault."  
"No, it wasn't. If I were in your place I'd probably have done the same thing." She said.  
"I'm sorry too Ryo-ohki. I didn't mean to make you feel bad." Sasami said.   
"I know Sasami. I just... I'm just sick of being treated like an animal." She said.  
"Well I won't any more."  
"Me either." Tenchi said. Aeka turned away and ignored them. Mihoshi shrugged and lay back on the couch.   
Washu looked down at her and smiled. Ryoko saw it and said, "You called her mom didn't you?"  
"Yeah."   
"Well at least that lets me off the hook."  
Ryo-ohki stuck her tongue out. "Fine, but that makes me the favorite." Everyone grinned.   
"So Ryo-ohki, what do you want to do?" Sasami asked.   
Ryo-ohki looked at her and said, "How about we go up on the hill and watch the sunset?"  
"Sure." Sasami said.   
"What about dinner?" Aeka asked.   
"Cook it yourself." Ryo-ohki said.   
Sasami shrugged and grinned. "Sorry sis." She and Ryo-ohki walked out of the room.   
"This is going to take some getting used to." Tenchi said watching them walk away.   
Ryoko shrugged. "Probably."  
Aeka frowned. "Unfortunately she seems to be taking after the rest of your family Ryoko. I'm not sure Sasami should play with her if she's going to use such crude language." Her frown deepened. "And her topics of conversation leave something to be desired."  
"Cut a little too close to home huh princess?" Ryoko asked with a grin.   
"I don't know what you mean." She stood up and walked towards the stairs. "Now if you'll excuse me I'll be in my room until dinner."   
"I'm cooking." Ryoko said.   
"Make that breakfast." Aeka amended and went upstairs.   
"Good then you can lose some of those snack food pounds Ryo-ohki was talking about." Ryoko called after her. When they heard the door slam she turned to the others and said, "So what's the number for the nearest pizza parlor?"   
  
The end  
  
Author's note  
Everyone thinks that just because she isn't a humanoid Ryo-ohki should be treated as a pet. Think I'm wrong? Right? Whatever you think tell me at clayton_n@hotmail.com 


End file.
